When taking part in combat roleplay on the MUSH, especially in larger battle scenes, everything will flow much more smoothly and be more fun for everyone involved if a few basic guidelines are kept in mind.

1) OOC communication before and during a battle is key. If you’re not sure about something, page your opponent. Before attacking someone, do them the courtesy of paging them and letting them know you’ll be fighting them. If you have a problem with something your opponent has posed, page and try to sort it out. If it cannot be resolved, of course, a staff member is always available.

2) Remember the geography of the battle. You’re not fighting in a vacuum, particularly when it’s a large battle scene. You’re surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of fighting, dying men. Be aware of where you are in the battle—left flank, right flank, van etc—and pose accordingly. Keep an eye out for the general poses that describe how the overall battle is going so that you’ll have an idea of what’s happening on your part of the battlefield. And if you can throw in a line or two every other pose about the chaos of battle around you, so much the better; it adds immensely to the scene’s atmosphere.

3) Following on from that, pose realistically about your movement across the battlefield. If you’re fighting on the right flank, you can’t suddenly appear on the left flank to attack someone there.

4) If remounts are allowed in the battle and you get knocked off, you must have a separate pose describing you remounting, getting back into the battle etc before you can do an attack pose again. Likewise, if you’ve finished fighting one person and wish to fight another person, you must have a pose describing you moving away from your precious combat and towards your new one before you can do an attack pose.

5) Have some detail in your attack and defense descriptions. You don’t have to be intricately detailed about your balance, the angle of your swing etc, but fleshing out how and where you attack your opponent or how you avoid his attack is useful. Throw in descriptions of some fancy feints and swordplay if you want; again, it adds atmosphere.

6) Pose any damage taken semi-realistically. If it’s a glancing blow, sure, go ahead and pose shrugging it off. But if it’s a shattering blow, you’re not going to be doing that unless you’re the Black Knight. It’s going to hurt a hell of a lot and perhaps do some damage as well; pose accordingly.